Rune Factory 5 Guide - Tips and Tricks

Being the seventh installment in a well-established series, Rune Factory 5 can come across as a bit intimidating to newcomers. Whether you’re a newbie farmer or a long-time fan who needs a refresher course, our tips and tricks can help you get your smooth start as the newest amnesiac SEED recruit. Read on for our Rune Factory 5 Tips and Tricks!

Same-Sex Marriage is in the Game

Yes, Rune Factory 5 includes same-sex marriage, a first for a Rune Factory game. So, in case you’re worried about playing as a male or female and whether they’ll be able to end up with a character that’s caught your eye (check out our Rune Factory 5 Relationships and Marriage Guide for more), rest easy!

Check the Signposts for Tips

Across Rigbarth, you’ll find signposts which are handy for checking instructions that you may have forgotten during the tutorials, or information that you probably weren’t aware of. The closest signpost you’ll find is right on your farm next to the Rigbarth Outpost.

Move the Wardrobe in Your Room

One of the first and only movable pieces of furniture you’ll find in your room is your wardrobe. An early request that you’ll come across on the request board is to try moving your wardrobe, but what the quest doesn’t tell you is to move it off of the platform it’s on. This platform is key for receiving any furniture you buy from Studio Palmo, and as long as the wardrobe is on the platform, you won’t get the furniture you ordered. 

Save Up Your Materials

As you start out playing, it might be tempting to sell every single item you end up collecting, but it’s highly advised not to do that, especially when it comes to items such as stone and lumber. You’ll never know when these materials will come in handy, whether that’s for crafting furniture or for a recipe. Even weeds can end up being used in making fertilizer!

Harvest Crops With a Sickle For Higher Seed Levels

Rather than harvesting your crops by hand, make sure you harvest them with a sickle. Doing so will yield you seeds that are a seed level higher than the seeds you planted. In the beginning, the seeds sold at the store are at a seed level of one. So, if you planted seeds with a seed level of 4, their crops will yield seeds with a seed level of 5. 

Always Plant Your High Level Seeds

Make sure you always plant seeds of a higher level. Not only do these sell for more money, higher level crops are also sometimes needed to fulfill requests. The highest seed level is level 10.

Ask Livia About the Harvest Report

Talk to Livia about the weekly harvest report to know which crops will be bountiful and which will have a poor yield. Crops that are bountiful will give you a higher yield of crops per plant on harvesting them, while crops that are poor will give you a lower yield of crops per plant. Bountiful crops that week will give you up to two more crops than usual, while poor crops might yield only one or two crops.

Use the Magnifying Glass to Keep an Eye on Your Crops

A handy tool for inspecting the status of your crops and the state of your soil is the magnifying glass. It can be bought at the General Store, but you’ll quickly find it tiring to switch back and forth between your tools and the magnifying glass. Instead, you can upgrade your tools with the magnifying glass by using the game‘s crafting system.

Buy Your Daily Recipe Bread 

Rune Factory 5 has a complex crafting system, and so the list of recipes is endless. To get as many recipes as early as possible, make sure you buy your daily recipe bread. At the beginning of the game, you’ll only be able to buy two recipes from the Sweet Hearth, and one recipe from Lackadaisy. Later on, you can upgrade these places from Studio Palmo to increase the number or recipe breads you can buy per day.

Bathe Daily

As a beginner SEED ranger, you’ll be able to take your first bath of the day at The Blue Moon for free. Make sure you have your Beginner’s Crest equipped. To do so, go to the camp menu (+ button), go to Ranger Notes (the 7th tab), and select SEED crests. Select the Beginner Crest and equip it with the Y button. Your bathing skill will also increase every time you take a bath.

Use Your Object X 

Not sure what to do with the Object X from your failed recipe? Throw it at an enemy! You can deal some damage and even inflict status ailments. You can also consume Object X before going to bed to increase your resistance to status ailments.

Invite NPCs to Your Party

If you’re at friendship level 3 with an NPC (for more about friendship, check out our Rune Factory 5 Friendship Guide), you have the option of inviting them to your party when you’re out adventuring. Talk to them and press either the L or R button to open up the ‘BTW menu’. You’ll see the “Let’s go on an adventure!” option. Each in-game hour that they’re in your party, their friendship level will go up by 1%.

Feed and Heal Your Monsters

Once you’re at level 3 friendship with your monsters, they’ll help you out on your farm. However, after a few days they might stop working. This is because they’re out of health points, and while their health will regenerate over the course of a few days, you can also simply heal them to get them back on their feet. Make sure you feed them when they’re hard at work on the farm, because once they’re completely out of health, you won’t be able to heal them with food items or potions.